In the food processing industry, including that of baked goods, it has, for a long time, been desirable to develop high quality, convenient foods, having ever longer shelf-lives, easier storage conditions and high appeal to sight, touch, taste and smell.
New trends such as more natural, healthier, more nutritious foods, environmental friendliness, freshness and clean label are also in demand.
One particular focus has been the replacement of egg yolk and/or whole egg in food stuffs. This not only leads to healthier (lower cholesterol) and cheaper foods, but can also extend shelf-life (although only insofar as proposed substitutes tend to remain edible, under normal storage conditions, for longer than eggs).
A number of egg substitutes have therefore been developed. For example, eggs have successfully been replaced by specially modified, emulsifying starches such as Cerestar's C*EmTex™ and National Starch and Chemical's N-Creamer 46™ in sauces, dressings and mayonnaise. There has also been some success in replacing eggs in baked goods. EP1159876A1, for example, discloses the use of starch n-alkenyl succinate for partial egg replacement. However, attempts to replace the entire egg content have, so far, been unsuccessful. It has indeed been observed that, if 100% of the egg content is replaced, dough volume is reduced leading to a dense, heavy texture in the final product, product height after cooking is diminished, crumb texture becomes hard, dry and crumbly after only short periods in storage and moisture is reduced resulting in decreased edibility.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved egg substitute, suitable for entire egg content replacement, for use in the preparation of high quality bakery products. The present invention provides such a substitute.